South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1887-06-10

tnet country. Ii mas been the Gus
tom OF too many of our orators to
speak with batcd breath and whisper.
Ell tongue OF tho causes thss lei To-
THE unhappy and fsatricidal strife.
They have seemingly reen content to
rest quietly under the name of '-Rsb-
ell" and, to leave 10 future genera
tiOns the viadicstion OF our cause,
aud the rec,ltude OF Our purposes.
While I 6isclaim the pu rpose to re-
vive again the dead issues of the past.
or to keep Ia memory the hatred aud
bitterness engendered by the conflict
between the sections. l cannot recon-
cits it with my sense OF duty and of
truth. to ALLOW this opprobrious cpl
tibet 10 be applied to our cause or the
brave people who so bravely and glo-
riously fought for, and died for. those
principles.
Mr.. Pennybacker here asserted and
argued that, 90 FAR from The Southern
suldier being a"Rsbel." he was the
upholder and ma,ntainer OF tue grand
principles that underlie alLfree gov
ernments and that the Southern peos
pie were the Constitutional party In
this contes:. He cited many pas
ssges from tue "Bill Of Rights" Dec
laration Of Independence, and Arti-
cles Of Confsder alton, and the Goa.
stitutiou of the United States to prove
his assertions. lie then briefly re-.
viewed the causes that led to the war.
showing that the North violated The
plain provisions OF the Constitution.
After dsscanting upon the prowess
OF tile Southern ARM, and the love
anil devotion OF the Southern ladies
to the cause so dear to the Southern
heart, he closed as follows:
Four long yea of blood, priva-
tons, glory aud sorrow passed away
vi h The alternstions OF victory AMI
defeat, as the then uncnnauered BAN
ner was horne triumphantly over the
battle fl aids Of Cross KEYS. Port Re.
public, seven days around Richmond,
sec>nd Manassas. Harper's Ferry,
Sbarpsburg, erst and second Frede.
rick sburg, and Chaucellcrsviile, where
"off the edge of war the Giant fell |;
followed by those darker days at
Getty sburg AMI Vicksburg-the Con
tetera,e sky again Frightening at the
Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court.
House, second Cold Hatbor and the
sieges at Charleston and Petersburg,
amt again clouded at Atlanta, Win
chester, Nashville, Nchmonn--and
nally, the dark, dismal day at Ape
pomattox Court. House saw the last
lay that ever fe,l urnn the glorious
but now folded baaner. Who can
! describe the alterations of hope and
| fear-the sorrpws patiently borne
kthe privatious at home, in the trench
es and on the battlefield z No pen
ave that Of tie Recording Angel has
ever written down The sobs OF the
widow, the hungry cry Of the orphan
the sig of the captive and the groan
of the dying. The eye OF our neav.
emily Father alone has noted the pas
sage OF every spirit from the tlelt and
the hospital, from warning Earth 10
peaceful Heaven. All! would that a
faithful chronicier could write down
all that noble people suffered in
that desperate struggle for liberty
against tue ''worli in arms" 1t may
be true that southern nationality is
a dream OF The past" A gulf, be-
You'd which we could not pass, yuwn
sd between US and the realization of
our hopes; and though bright flowers
bloomed upon its brink and waited
sweet perfume, We could not cross
to gather them,
The Southern cross no longer
CLEANS out mid the wild light Of bat.
tie; the sword of the vanquished is
sheathed, and The land is gloomy
with the harmless sepulchres of our
martyrcd dead. But when years and
years shall have passed away-when
tue last OF the present generation
sleep with their fathers, and new
forms tb-ong the old familiar places
when factions shall have hushed,
and justice shall hold the scales, then,
as bright as day, and as free from
Flemish and stain, will stand forth
in bright relief upon the scroll of his
toric fame, the record OF the South,
nearer to the hearts OF her children,
now in the hour of sorro than when,
on the march 10 victory, she won the
admiration Of the world. Pilgrims
from other lands shall tread with re-
weren't step above the spot where
mouldets the dust Of our loved and
lost; while those who are to follow
us will cherish as household words
the names OF those who, carving q
way through the fiery path of war,
have written their names where they
can never DIE. The principle for
which so many laid down their lives
may not he recognized until their
names have grown feeble on tho
tongue OF friendship. aud been drop
ped, like dead silence, upon the ear
of the world. But IL will struggle
back from the hollow bosom that
once bled for IL, end ascend the
heights OF go7erDm7nL.
And, when the faithful historian
shall descend into the vaults Of the
dead past, in quest OF the traditions
Of liberty, he will then discover TO
whom the world is indebted for their
perpetustion. Then will be realiz'
ed that,
Far dearer the grave or the prison,
IllumiDed by one patriots name,
Than the trophies Of all who have risen
On Libetly's ruin to fame.